Ghada Shalaby, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Tourism Affairs, chaired through video conferencing technology, the fourteenth meeting of the Committee on Tourism and Sustainability of the World Tourism Organization (WTO).
It is the first meeting chaired by Egypt within the framework of its presidency of this committee for a period of two years.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Dirk Glaesser, Director of the Sustainable Development Program of the WTO and representatives of the 9 member states of the Committee, namely Algeria, Angola, Honduras, El Salvador, the Philippines, Bhutan, Croatia, Serbia and Egypt.
The meeting was also attended by Dr. Nashwa Talaat, adviser to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Sustainable Tourism, and Ambassador Majid, former supervisor of the central administration for international organizations and foreign relations at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Shalaby began the opening speech of the meeting by welcoming the participants.
Shalaby stressed that the world is still facing severe consequences due to the Coronavirus crisis so the tourism sector is among the most sectors affected.
Shalaby added that tourism has always proven in the past that it is a reliable partner to lead the recovery for peoples and societies and it will do so this time too.
She went on to say that the resumption of the tourism movement is of vital importance for the economies of the countries and the creation of jobs, therefore the committee is looking forward to the recovery of the tourism sector to get best that the sector can provide: sustainability, innovation, cooperation and solidarity, as tourism is an essential pillar of the 2030 sustainable development plan in Egypt.
During the meeting, the final report, which was prepared, based on the data provided by the member states of the committee, was approved in preparation for submitting it to the United Nations General Assembly at its seventy-fifth session, which will be held next October.
The report includes a suggestion of ways to promote sustainable tourism, including ecotourism, in order to eradicate poverty and preserve the environment, where sustainable tourism.
On her part, Dr. Nashwa Talaat also highlighted the continuous efforts of Egypt represented by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in achieving recommendations for combating poverty and promoting sustainable tourism and working more broadly to achieve the 17 SDGs.
Talaat stressed the importance of including health standards as a tool to achieve sustainability.
Furthermore, Ambassador Majed Musleh also gave an invitation to hold an extraordinary meeting in Egypt for Middle Eastern countries that are members of WTO to discuss the efforts of countries in the region in achieving the sustainable development goals.
It is worth noting that Egypt won the chairmanship of the Tourism and Sustainability Committee in its current session starting from January 2020 for a period of two years.
Egypt was elected to chair the committee during the participation of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the activities of the 14th session of the International Exhibition for Tourism and Travel "Vetor" which was held in the Spanish capital Madrid in January 2020.
Also Egypt had won membership of this committee (2019-2023), during the hosting of the 45th meeting of the Middle East Committee in Cairo in March 2019.
Contributed by Ahmed Moamar
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